Q&A: Kit Frick, Author of ‘Friends and Liars’

We chat with author Kit Frick about Friends and Liars, which is an insidious thriller about four estranged friends trapped in a powerful family’s deadly games at a luxe estate in the Italian countryside.

Hi, Kit! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

Hello there! I’m a writer of suspense for adult and teen readers. In addition to my work as a writer, I’m the managing editor for the independent literary publisher Black Lawrence Press and the mom of a spirited three-year-old. Friends and Liars is my seventh published novel!

When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?

I can’t remember a time when stories weren’t an important part of my life. My parents read to me from birth, and I developed a love of books very early on. In first grade, my amazing teacher actually bound the stories we wrote and illustrated in class into little books. I still have a few! I continued exploring writing as a creative outlet as a child and teen, and by the time I got to college and enrolled in my first creative writing workshop, I was beginning to suspect that writing had its hooks in me for good.

Quick lightning round! Tell us:

• The first book you ever remember reading: The first chapter book I read on my own was Help! I’m a Prisoner in the Library by Eth Clifford. I still have my copy!
• The one that made you want to become an author: The Hunger Games series. The storytelling is incredibly captivating—I wanted to hook readers the way Suzanne Collins’ iconic series hooked me.
• The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Ruth Ware’s The Woman in Cabin 10. It’s one of the best-written psychological thrillers of all time.

Your latest novel, Friends and Liars, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

Luxe Italian palazzo revenge plot!

What can readers expect?

Friends and Liars follows an estranged group of college friends who reunite five years after the mysterious death of their classmate and one-time close friend, heiress Clare Annabelle Monroe. The book’s mystery centers around how Clare wound up drowned in Lake Como, Italy, outside her family’s lavish palazzo five years ago—and who was responsible. Think The White Lotus vibes (Italy season), secrets, betrayal, and a masterful revenge plot that will place those closest to Clare in danger.

Where did the inspiration for Friends and Liars come from?

When I began brainstorming Friends and Liars several years ago, I’d recently attended a college reunion, so that very much on my mind—how you can be so incredibly close with certain people for a period of your life, then fall swiftly out of touch. Enter my estranged group of friends—Harper, Luca, Sirina, and David.

The idea continued to develop during a fall getaway to the Hudson Valley with my husband. We took a hike up to a breathtaking mountain house built on a lake in New York State, and I had the idea for getting my group of estranged college friends together there, perhaps following the mysterious death of a classmate.

The idea transformed over several years of simmering on the back burner—the mountain house became a palazzo and the Hudson Valley lakeside setting became Lake Como, Italy. But the estranged college friends remained, as did the death of their classmate, heiress Clare Monroe, which still haunts them five years later.

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

I love developing immersive settings for my readers to get lost in, and crafting Palazzo Mella and the characters’ various excursions around the Italian countryside was incredibly exciting for me as a writer. The palazzo, a vacation home for Clare Monroe’s family, is gorgeous and a bit quirky—a beautiful terrace, acres of gardens, rooms named after Italian filmmakers, and an anachronistically modern boat house. It was a joy to write.

Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?

My largest challenge when writing Friends and Liars was time. I had a newborn at home, and my writing time was more limited than it had been in quite a while, since drafting my debut. Panera was my savior—truly. I’ve never been a coffee shop writer; it’s always my preference to work at home. But that wasn’t an option while drafting this book, and I set up shop at my local Panera for a few hours three days a week to work on the draft. I learned to adapt to the new “office.” Earbuds and white noise help a lot. It took much longer to reach “the end” on my first draft than I was used to, but eventually I got there!

What’s next for you?

My next novel is a glossy NYC murder mystery called Murder on the Upper East Side. Think Gossip Girl, for adults, with murder. It’s my first book I’m publishing under a pen name, Gigi Waldorf, which is fun. It’s coming out in June in the UK and in September in the US!

Lastly, what books have you enjoyed reading this year? Are there any you’re looking forward to picking up in 2026?

A few of my favorites that I read this year were Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson, House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen, The Murder After the Night Before by Katy Brent, and The Gallery Assistant by Katie Belli. I’m looking forward to The Storm by Rachel Hawkins and All the Little Houses by May Cobb, both coming in January.

Will you be picking up Friends and Liars? Tell us in the comments below!